Doesn't help when the Head of Strength and Conditioning Calum Christopherson leaves for HKR, and is not replaced. Other clubs such as Salford employ 2 Strength and Conditioners, we don't.. Also Seamus McCallion our ex Head Physio, gone..

Hit the nail on the head and why i have been critical of Smith for several months now.
Like in football when a team leaks goals and a new manager comes in what do they do? They concentrate on the defence and build the team from there, then slowly start to apply a pressing game and more attack.
Its the same in R/L Defence the priority,fitness to cope with the extra work,then start to apply an attacking structure
Smith has done nothing like this since he arrived apart from make this team into the most undisciplined in the S/L.
His time is up and Pearson has to climb out of his shell tomorrow,apologise to fans and sack Smith and his pal with immediate effect .
Cant say ive seen any difference since Grix has been here but i think fans will be prepared to give him a chance till the end of the season.
Also bring back Gaz Ellis as assistant coach

it will melt tonight

Tbf to Gentle he managed to finish 6th with a squad assembled at last minute in 2012 with I think our best home record ever at the MKM. Even though the 2013 playoff defeat was embarasing lets not forget it was a round 2 playoff defeat and we'd lost at Wembley in a game spoilt by a downpour. Legend has it the players downed tools, we never know what might have been had he stayed (2014 and 2015 were poor under Radford)

Id take the above level of league and cup finishes right now!

Said it many times Gentle certainly wasn’t the problem and had AP backed him to do his job we certainly wouldn’t be anywhere to the mess we are in right now.

For me the way AP handled things then was probably the start of the problems that have become deep seated issues that are now ingrained in to the fabric of the club.

The one coach he needed to give time too he pulled the trigger on far too early and then hired the one who lead the revolt all because Gentle was a proper coach and made train hard

Smith saying that the players are fatigued after 5 games and that's why we're struggling puts Clifford's comments about pre season being a piece of pi$$ into context

Hi all,

This is my first post so wanted to just take a brief moment to say hello to all fellow FC fans and rugby fans in general. I have read posts on here before for quite some time and decided to join to get involved in the discussions.



I think the question of whether Tony Smith stays or goes isn't the right question to be honest. That's not in defence of Smith at all because, let's face it, yesterday's performance was pretty indefensible. No defensive structure, no attacking structure, no game plan. That all lays at the feet of the coach and the coaching staff.

But this is a wider issue than the coach. Because this kind of performance is something we have witnessed for years and it doesn't seem to matter who the coach is. I think back to the comments made by Shaun McRae all those years ago about there been a cancer at the club. Those comments came after a similar hammering with questions being asked about players' desire, effort, commitment and pride in the shirt. It's affected every coach in-between him and Smith at some point and it's often been the eventual downfall of those coaches. And so it may prove with Smith too.

So instead of asking whether we need to change the coach again, what we have to be asking first and foremost as a club is why does this keep happening regardless of who the players are or who the coaches are? We've also seen ownership change hands in that time and multiple CEO's. They all change but the malaise, culture, cancer, whatever you want to call it always remains. Until someone can figure out what the club needs to do to eradicate that for good then all a change of coach is going to be right now is a reactive move, a shot in the dark in the hope that it provides short term relief until the cycle starts to repeat itself once more.

The club desperately needs a long-term plan for me.

Spot on…I went to a u-21s game and Gentle was there to watch as was some 1st teamers.Always felt he was unfairly sacked as had us playing good rugby but his assistant was wispering in Pearson ear.For me Smith,Gene,Davidson and Grix can go..mayoharsh on Grix but not seen anything different from him to what Ellis was doing.Doubt we have the money to do that or go all out for Rowley.Pearson got his fingers burnt with Hodgson But there must be a assistant down under who would relish it.Another Peter Sharp would do…stood no nonsense and had us playing well.

You heard something or just hoping the voices in your head are right??

Well we all agree on one thing. Something has to change.

You missed "away from the club" at the end of your post.

At least there is one positive that’s come from yesterday it’s seems to have brought us altogether for once



Small things I know but I’ll take anything that scrapes by as a positive at the minute